A feasibility study on the restoration of the Barnsley and Dearne & Dove Canals will be launched on 3 November at Waterton Park Hotel in Wakefield.

The event will be chaired by John Fletcher, the national chair of the Inland Waterways Association. Ed Balls MP, economic secretary to the Treasury, will be the keynote speaker.

Independent consultants Atkins completed the feasibility report, which was commissioned by the Barnsley Canals Consortium. The group comprises local authorities; the Inland Waterways Association; the Barnsley, Dearne & Dove Canals Trust and the Royston and Carlton Community Partnership.

The study considered the viability of restoring a navigable waterway between the Aire & Calder Navigation near Wakefield as well as the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation near Swinton. The aim would be to create the missing Yorkshire Waterways Link, which would join the waterways of South and West Yorkshire to form a Yorkshire waterways cruising ring.

The study concluded that the canals could be restored and reconstructed owing to economic, environmental and social benefits. Details: www.waterways.org.uk